Prince Hans
Prince Hans Westerguard of the Southern Isles is the true main antagonist of Disney's 2013 animated feature film Frozen. ''He is the youngest of the thirteen princes from the Southern Isles, and came to Arendelle for Elsa's coronation. Since he's the youngest in his family, he'll never be able to inherit the throne from his brothers, so he plans on usurping the throne of Arendelle. He is voiced by Broadway veteran Santino Fontana. Official Disney Bio ''"Hans is a handsome royal from a neighboring kingdom who comes to Arendelle for Elsa’s coronation. With 12 older brothers, Hans grew up feeling practically invisible—and Anna can relate. Hans is smart, observant and chivalrous. Unlike Elsa, Hans promises he’ll never shut Anna out; he just might be the connection she’s been waiting for all these years." ''Frozen'' Hans is Anna's false lover. When Anna goes off to find Elsa, she leaves Hans in charge. Anna's horse runs back to Arendelle, and this leads Hans to round up some volunteers to come with him to the North Mountains to rescue Anna. After a fierce battle with Elsa's colossal bodyguard, Marshmallow, Hans succeeds in capturing Elsa. In the castle dungeon, he convinces Elsa to stop the winter, but she tells him she can't. However, when Anna's heart is frozen and she is brought to Hans to receive a kiss from him, just before the kiss he pulls back, chuckles, and says "If only there was someone who loved you." He then reveals his true motives: Hans wooed Anna for the purpose of marrying into a royal family and becoming king, because he has no chance of inheriting the throne of the Southern Isles as thirteenth in line. Instead of saving Anna's life, he deliberately leaves her behind for freezing to death. Hans sentences Elsa with a death charge, but Elsa's powers become strong enough for her to break out of the castle dungeon and escape. Later, when the two sisters are outside in an uncontrollable blizzard caused by Elsa, Hans confronts the queen. She asks him to take care of Anna, and Hans goes as far as to lie to her that Anna was killed by her magic. While Elsa is busy grieving her sister's death, Hans prepares to finish her by striking her with his sword when Anna leaps in front of Hans just before freezing solid to save Elsa. The recoil from hitting the frozen Anna was enough to shatter the sword and knock Hans unconscious. Anna's sacrifice also allowed Elsa to realize that it was love that could reverse her devastating ice powers and revive Anna. Hans awakens to find that the eternal winter has ended, and is shocked when he sees Anna alive and well, since he thought her heart had been frozen. Anna walks over to Hans, and, telling him that the only frozen heart was his, feeds him a knuckle sandwich and knocks him off the boat they're standing on. Afterwards, he is put in the brig on a ship and sent back to his own kingdom to face his brothers for his behavior in Arendelle. Personality Hans seemed to be a brave, friendly, and noble man at first sight, asking a "weird" question to Anna about being married together. However later on in the story, Hans reveals his true self to Anna before he was about to kiss her, and is actually a fairly cruel, self-centered, and unscrupulous individual who attempted to kill Queen Elsa at the end. Notably though his affable nature was not a complete facade, as he maintained a cordial tone even after showing his true nature and also seemed to care about the men under him to a degree, though this too could have been an act. Cold, conniving and quick, Hans is a devilish prince with a hunger for admiration, power, obedience and honor. Being the youngest sibling of thirteen princes, Hans spent a portion of his life being ignored and treated unfairly, something he reveals to Anna during their first night together. This abuse likely led to Hans' villainous transformation over time. Though he appears to be noble to the fullest extent, Hans is merely a master manipulator, caring nothing for anyone other than himself. Through his charm and charisma alone, he is able to fool both Anna and Elsa as well as the entire kingdom of Arendelle and its visiting royals, providing excellent proof of his dangerous power over manipulation. Like many villains, Hans is very power-hungry, willingly visiting Arendelle to murder Elsa and rule the kingdom via marrying Anna, revealing his only desire is to become king, and ridding anyone necessary in any way he can for his quest for power, making him amongst Disney's most wicked villains. However, his manipulation and facade can be at times too perfect, which can be his greatest flaw for his overly-benevolent impersonation during his first meeting is a road to questioning of his motivation, as Elsa and Kristoff do not as easily fall like Anna does, for his seemingly amiable personality the first time. He appears to be rather arrogant as well, chuckling and smirking to himself whilst revealing his dark plans to Anna, as she is freezing to death right before his eyes. It is clear Hans' goal to rule as king was likely to gain the love and admiration he never had, after being left in his brothers' shadows over the many years. Confirmation of this is seen during Hans' betrayal, where he tells Anna he'll be the hero that saves Arendelle from destruction once Elsa's slain, showing excitement for the oncoming praise. He is also very abusive, though verbally more so than physically, as he constantly torments Anna and Elsa merely through his words after his dark side is revealed. Examples of this can be seen when he and Anna are in the parlor, and the prince constantly taunts the dying princess, as well as in the fjord during the confrontation with Elsa, as Hans decides to further Elsa's eternal suffering by telling her Anna has died, wanting to add that much harm to her before his attempt to kill her. Hans' most powerful trait is quite possibly his vast intelligence and incredible ability to lie. He's proven to be quick thinking, resourceful, and extremely diligent, being able to fool the entire kingdom without fail, even the Duke of Weselton, whom Hans holds a disliking to that only seemed to increase throughout the film. However, unlike many Disney villains, Hans constantly has to change his plot accordingly with the shifting events that takes place in the film, without letting loose his villainous nature. All of this is particularly due to Elsa and her newly revealed magical nature, who was his first target for his plan, but had to switch to Anna when he heard of her desire to keep her distance from people, unaware of her powers over winter. Such as Elsa's deadly curse upon Anna leaving Hans with the option of taking over the kingdom without marrying Anna, as well as after Elsa's self-imposed exile after her powers were revealed, where he decides to kill her openly to seem like a hero in the eyes of Arendelle's citizens, gaining their trust and admiration for saving their kingdom. Gallery Hans grinning evilly as he betrays Anna.png|Hans grinning evilly as he betrays Anna. Official-Frozen-Illustrations-Spoilers-frozen-35527384-500-308.png|The book version of Hans revealing his true intentions. Official-Frozen-Illustrations-Spoilers-frozen-35527395-406-500.png|The book version of Hans about to kill Elsa. 2014-01-12 04.00.10 am.png|Prince Hans about to gleefully and remorselessly kill Queen Elsa. 24a.jpg|Hans and Marshmallow Hans.gif|Prince Hans Animated Style Furioushans.jpg|Hans getting furious because of the escape of Queen Elsa. Prince Hans rising to power.png|Hans rising to power. vlcsnap-2014-03-08-18h27m45s12.png|Hans is about to close the door on Anna. vlcsnap-2014-03-08-18h24m37s162.png|Hans smiles at the dying Anna. Trivia *Ironically, Hans is named after Hans Christian Anderson, the author of The Snow Queen, which Frozen is based off. *It is possible that Hans is based on the Evil Mirror from the original Snow Queen. In the original fairy tale, it is said that those who looked into this mirror, the negative aspects of their personality would come to the surface. And that if a glass shard of this mirror got into one's body, their heart would freeze as a result of their cold nature. The mirror in the story was pivotal for it had caused one of the protagonists, Kai, to become cold towards his friend Gerda (the inspiration for Anna). **The possibility of this is supported by the observation that Hans, when interacting with other people, adapts aspects of that persons personality into his own. He's effectively mirroring them, making him seem more approachable to different types of people, making it easy to manipulate them. ***When interacting with Anna he's playful, kind, and maintains a positive attitude. ***When interacting with Elsa he's noble, generous, patient, and soft spoken. ***When interacting with the Duke of Weselton he's demanding, rude, and harsh. **Another possibility of this is supported by the fact that in the end of the film, Anna tells Hans that his heart is the only frozen heart, due to how cold and manipulative he is, directly referencing the effects of the Evil Mirror had on the people who looked into it. **In an interview with Jennifer Lee, Lee confirms that Hans was partially based upon the concept of the evil mirror in the original story, as the original story had a lot to do with mirrors. So, as she explains, what Hans is is a mirror which appears charming to the person, but is hallow and sociopathic. **Hans is essentially the complete opposite reflection of many of the heroic characters in Frozen: ***Princess Anna, for while both were shut out for many years, she actually wants to reconnect with her sister and would do anything to reconnect with her. Hans, on the other hand, was embittered by being ignored and overshadowed by his older brothers, and is willing to do anything, even treachery or murder, to gain respect and admiration. ***Queen Elsa, for while she shuts Anna out, she does that to protect her. Hans, on the other hand, while he would never shut Anna out, he only does that so he has someone to trust, but then eventually shut her out so she can freeze to death. ***Kristoff Bjorgman, for while very gruff and tough on the outside, is actually kindhearted and caring on the inside. Hans, on the other hand, while being kind and friendly on the outside, is actually cruel and ruthless on the inside. ***Olaf the Snowman, who represented the love between Elsa and Anna, while Hans meanwhile represents the breaking of Elsa and Anna's bond. *In an original script of Frozen, Kristoff & Hans were supposed to engage in a fight during the movie's climax. This scene was later cut off from the final draft of the movie. * He is the third villain in a "Disney Princess" movie not to die (the first being Lady Tremaine and Governor Ratcliffe being the second). Although Jafar did not die in the first Aladdin movie, he did in the second movie. * Hans shares many similarities with Gaston from Beauty and the Beast: ** Both are handsome. ** Both are attracted in some way to the female protagonist. ** Both tried to woo them. ** Both tried to kill a person close to the protagonist who is considered a monster. ** Both lead an army & both tried to become a "hero" by killing an innocent figure. ** Unlike Gaston, Hans does not display any signs of sexism or being a jerk prior to revealing his true colors. * The twist that Hans is the main villain is very similar to Sentinel Prime from Transformers: Dark of the Moon ''both were introduced as supporting protagonists of their respective movies but then are revealed to be the main villain as the movie goes on by betraying the protagonists for their selfish desires, borrowing the minions of another villain & trying to take over a certain place. **Unlike Sentinel, however, Hans' overall evil scheme is not as diabolical as Sentinel Prime's, as his mainly took advantage over situations for his plan, not cause a chain of events in the movie (unlike Sentinel Prime who had a deal with Megatron that triggered the events in Transformers: Dark of the Moon)'' so his plan can goes smoothly. * Hans continues the tradition of a Disney villain who initially appears to be a friend, more specifically Cecil Clayton and Queen La from Tarzan, Rourke from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Stinky Pete from Toy Story 2, and Henry J. Waternoose III from Monsters, Inc,'' Charles Muntz from ''Up, ''and Lotso-Huggin' Bear from ''Toy Story 3, ''as well as other villains from different franchises such as Victor Maynott from ''A Monster in Paris, Sentinel Prime from Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Chester V from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. *Hans bears some similarities with Alejandro Burromuerto from Total Drama, both are handsome, both are attracted in some way to the female protagonist (Anna and Bridgette), both tried to woo them, only to end up betraying them for their own selfish desires, such as Hans leaving Anna to freeze to death, while Alejandro leaves Bridgette's tounge stuck to a pole, though Alejandro had womanizing abilities toward LeShawna and Courtney (pretending to have feelings for her, such like Hans pretending to have feelings for Anna), they both receive abuse from their brothers, leading to their evil transformations. * Originally, people thought Duke of Weselton was the main antagonist. But it was later revealed that Hans is the real villain. * Hans is the seventh male Disney Villain to appear in a Disney Princess film, first being Gaston, second being Jafar, third being Governor Ratcliffe, the fourth being Shan Yu, the fifth being Dr. Facilier, and the sixth being Mor'du. Of these villains, Hans is one of several who wanted to marry the main heroine for selfish reasons. * Hans is the third Disney villain to be a prince, Prince John being the first and Mor'du being the second, though in the case of the latter he was a former prince. *Before the film was released, Hans was rumored to be Elsa's love interest, even pairing the two in many fanfictions prior to the movie's release; in the movie itself he did want to marry her and make her his consort, but he saw that she was far too collected to become his queen and so decided to go after Anna instead. He even says this himself when he is quickening Anna's curse. *Although not a Complete Monster, Hans, along with Lady Tremaine and Lotso (though Lotso is regarded as a complete monster compared to the other two), has become one of the most hated Disney villains ever because of his treatment towards Princess Anna and Queen Elsa and in the process crossing the Moral Event Horizon. **Many more are angered over what they perceive to be a "breach in Disney tradition", in which a love interest has turned out evil. Indeed, his villain song "Love is an Open Door", is tactfully disguised as a love song, further fueling this sentiment. *Objectively speaking, Hans is arguably one of the more sympathetic Disney villains; he was neglected by his own family for years, living in the shadow of his brothers and presumably developing an intense psychological desire for attention and power so as to "prove" himself and validate his worth as a member of the royal family. It should also be noted that there is no indication that he would have necessarily been a bad or abusive king as far as the population at large was concerned; only his means of pursuing that goal were evil. *A chess set is seen in the background when Hans is explaining his scheme to Anna and extinguishing the heat sources in the room, symbolizing his exploitation of her as a "pawn" in his plans and himself as a schemer in the vein of the "Chessmaster" archetype. This can make him a Symbolic Villain. 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